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Regulatory Insights - January / February 2025

Your source for the latest updates from the SEC, DOL, and across the industry.

CONTENTS

Post-Election Update

  • Congressional Leadership Updates
  • Agency Leadership Changes
    • Mark T. Uyeda Named Acting Chairman of the SEC
    • Securities and Exchange Commission Statement on the Departure of Chair Gary Gensler
    • Department of Labor Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations Vincent Micone to Serve as Interim Secretary of Labor
  • White House Executive Orders (Selected)
    • Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology
    • Regulatory Freeze Pending Review

SEC Guidance & Other Activities

  • SEC Crypto 2.0: Formation of New Crypto Task Force
  • SEC Publishes Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 122
  • SEC Publishes ADI 2025-15 – Website Posting Requirements
  • SEC Publishes 2025 Names Rule FAQs

FINRA

  • 2025 FINRA Annual Regulatory Oversight Report
  • 2025 Third-Party Vendor Request
  • Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) Fees
  • FINRA Requests Comment on Proposed Changes to Corporate Financing Rules (Reg Notice 24-17)
  • FINRA Requests Comment on the Effectiveness and Efficiency of its Requirements Relating to Day Trading (Reg Notice 24-13)
  • FINRA Adopts Amendments to Rule 3240 (Reg Notice 24-12)

Retirement

  • U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Holds Its Final Meeting of the 2024 Advisory Council
  • U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), IRS, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. Release Information for Annual Benefits Plan Report/Return Filings
  • Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2025-01

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Post Election Update

Congressional Leadership Updates

  • Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
    Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC); Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
  • House Committee on Financial Services (“HFSC”)
    Chairman French Hill (R-AR); Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA);
    Key HFSC subcommittee leadership assignments include Capital Markets (Ann Wagner (R- MO)) and Digital Assets/Fintech (Bryan Steil (R-WI)).

Agency Leadership Changes

  • Mark T. Uyeda Named Acting Chairman of the SEC
    On January 21, 2025, the SEC announced that President Donald J. Trump designated Mark
    T. Uyeda as Acting Chairman of the agency. In addition, President Trump has nominated Paul Atkins as Chairman of the SEC – on January 7, 2025. Senate Confirmation Hearings will take place over the next few months.

- The SEC press release is available here: https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025-29

Department of Labor Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations Vincent Micone to Serve as Interim Secretary of Labor

On January 20, 2025, the White House announced Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations Vincent Micone will serve as Acting Secretary of Labor until the position is filled by appointment. President Trump has nominated Oregon U.S. Representative Lori Chavez- DeRemer as Labor Secretary.

White House Executive Orders (Selected)

  • Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology

On January 23, 2025, the White House issued an Executive Order, Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology, wherein President Trump declared, “the policy of my Administration to support the responsible growth and use of digital assets, blockchain technology, and related technologies across all sectors of the economy.”

Regulatory Freeze Pending Review

On January 20, 2025, the White House issued an Executive Order that all executive departments and agencies:

  1. Do not propose or issue any rule in any manner, including by sending a rule to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), until a department or agency head appointed or designated by the President reviews and approves the rule.
  2. Immediately withdraw any rules that have been sent to the OFR but not published in the Federal Register.
  3. Consider postponing for 60 days the effective date for any rules published in the Federal Register, or any rules issued in any manner but have not taken effect, for the purpose of reviewing any questions of fact, law and policy the rules may raise.

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SEC Guidance and Other Activities

SEC Crypto 2.0: Formation of New Crypto Task Force

On January 21, 2025, SEC Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda launched a crypto task force dedicated to developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets. The Task Force’s focus will be to help the Commission draw clear regulatory lines, provide realistic paths to registration, craft sensible disclosure frameworks and judiciously deploy enforcement resources. Commissioner Hester Peirce will lead the task force. Richard Gabbert, Senior Advisor to the Acting Chairman, and Taylor Asher, Senior Policy Advisor to the Acting Chairman, will serve as the task force’s Chief of Staff and Chief Policy Advisor, respectively.

SEC Publishes Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 122

On January 23, 2025, the SEC published Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) No. 122. This SAB rescinds the interpretive guidance included in Section FF of Topic 5 in the SAB Series titled, “Accounting for Obligations to Safeguard Crypto-Assets an Entity Holds for its Platform Users”.

SEC Publishes ADI 2025-15 – Website Disclosure Posting – Staff Observations

On January 16, 2025, the SEC published ADI 2025-15 – website posting requirements. There are various website posting requirements under various SEC rules and certain exemptive orders, including those related to the use of summary prospectuses, exchange-traded funds and money market funds. These requirements acknowledge the role the internet plays in providing information to investors; the purpose of ADI 2025-15 is to remind registrants of the website disclosure obligations required when operating under these rules or exemptive orders, and to flag certain issues the staff has observed.

SEC Publishes 2025 Names Rule FAQs

On January 8, 2025, the SEC published the 2025 Names Rule FAQs. These FAQs pertain to the SEC’s 2023 adoption of amendments to rule 35d-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940.


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FINRA

2025 FINRA Annual Regulatory Oversight Report

On January 28, 2025, FINRA published its 2025 FINRA Annual Regulatory Oversight Report, which provides information to help member firms establish and enhance their compliance programs. The report covers 24 different topics; this year’s Report features updated information on the prevention of financial crime (e.g., ongoing and emerging cybersecurity threats, the increased volume and sophistication of investment fraud schemes), as well as Reg BI and Form CRS.

2025 Third-Party Vendor Request

FINRA published the 2025 Third-Party Vendor Request, requesting all member firms provide information about their vendors and banks that are essential to the firms’ operations, processes or functions by February 25, 2025. FINRA’s Third-Party Vendor Request webinar, held on January 28, 2025, provided an overview of the request, including why FINRA is requesting this information and how the requested data will be used; the second webinar, to be held on February 10, 2025, will review frequently asked questions.

Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) Fees

As of January 1, 2025, the Historical CAT Cost Recovery Assessment 1 and Prospective CAT Cost Recovery Fee 2024-1 are no longer in effect for transactions in eligible securities executed by FINRA member CAT executing brokers. Also beginning January 1, 2025, a new Prospective CAT Cost Recovery Fee, 2025-1, is applicable to members executing brokers' transactions.

Regulatory Notice 24-17: FINRA Requests Comment on Proposed Changes to Corporate Financing Rules

Members and other stakeholders have until March 20, 2025 to comment on proposed amendments to FINRA Rules 5110 (Corporate Financing Rule — Underwriting Terms and Arrangements), 5121 (Public Offerings of Securities With Conflicts of Interest) and 5123 (Private Placements of Securities) that would make substantive, organizational and terminology changes.

Regulatory Notice 24-13: FINRA Requests Comment on the Effectiveness and Efficiency of its Requirements Relating to Day Trading

FINRA requested comments on its requirements related to day trading. The request is part of FINRA's retrospective rule review to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of those requirements.

Regulatory Notice 24-12: FINRA Adopts Amendments to Rule 3240

Updates to FINRA’s Borrowing From or Lending to Customers Rule go into effect on April 28, 2025. “to strengthen the general prohibition against borrowing and lending arrangements between registered representatives and their customers, narrow some exceptions, modernize the “immediate family” definition and enhance the notice and approval requirements related to permissible arrangements.”


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Retirement

Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2025-01

On January 14, 2025, EBSA published Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2025-01, a temporary enforcement policy under ERISA. It applies to small retirement benefit payments owed to missing participants or beneficiaries that a responsible plan fiduciary voluntarily decides to pay over to a state unclaimed property fund from an ongoing defined contribution or defined benefit pension plan.


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